Arcade Fire seem incapable of doing this, so they must compensate with layer after layer of production. It's the difference between arranging songs and just piling up a bunch of stuff.

At any given moment on the song "Normal Person," for instance, you can hear a honky-tonk piano, a Nine Inch Nails synth, My Bloody Valentine guitars, and a triangle nicked from the E Street Band.

At least the Eagles' hits were catchy enough to linger on the radio, however undeservedly. But every passing Arcade Fire album has contained fewer and fewer tracks you want to come back to. And it's really difficult to find any here.

The lone candidate might by the eponymous lead track, which also happens to feature David Bowie. Bowie has never been able to resist riding the latest trend. But the real reason why people still listen to his music has more to do the sounds he helped create. The odds of that happening for this band seem slim.

Some albums make you feel like dancing. Some albums make you feel like being sad. But if all an album does is make you feel like you're listening to an Arcade Fire album, something's gone wrong.